Prior art surface and recess wall mounted cabinets are available in a few general configurations with regard to the mechanism for mounting the surface panel to the cabinet enclosure. In one configuration, the enclosure surface panel or mirror is mounted to the enclosure with a single long hinge or a plurality of hinges on either the left or the right side of the cabinet enclosure. The door swings towards the user to access the inside of the cabinet. Such hinged type panel mounting systems have limitations when used with large panels or mirrors in small rooms with limited space and in locations where the arc travel of the panel interferes with other fixtures in the space such as tall faucets or hanging lighting fixtures. For example, such a hinged mounting system when used in a bathroom for a mirrored medicine cabinet does not allow for hanging lighting fixtures or for mounting tall plumbing fixtures due to interference with the travel path of the mirrored panel when in the open position. One conventional approach to resolving this issue is the use of a cabinet with a series of smaller segmented mirrored panels, each with its own hinge assembly. The drawbacks of this system are a discontinuous reflective surface and incremental cost and complexity associated with the design and fabrication.
In another configuration for prior art cabinets, the enclosure surface panel or mirror is mounted within the enclosure with slotted grooves or slide rails. With these configurations, the surface panel does not extend out beyond the enclosure, and therefore two or more surface panels are needed to completely cover the enclosure. This configuration also suffers in terms of a discontinuous reflective surface as well as limiting the user access to one portion of the enclosure at a given time as opposed to complete enclosure access.
In yet another configuration for prior art cabinets, the enclosure surface panel or mirror is mounted with an integrated slide system for providing complete access to the enclosure. However, such systems suffer from exposed slide or rail assemblies, and also require surface mounting. The bearing units for the slide or rail assemblies are exposed and no channel endcaps are included to obscure the rail ends. The cabinet cannot be recessed into a wall.
These prior art cabinet panel enclosure designs for use in bathroom cabinets also suffer from a design perspective for use by non-ambulatory people. More particularly, they are not specifically designed for disability/wheelchair accessibility, and therefore for the most part do not comply with ADAAG (Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines) for mirrors (Section 4.19 & 4.19.6) and controls (Section 4.27). In addition, few of these prior art designs have the ability for the mirror to be tilted by non-ambulatory people. Prior art designs that do incorporate mirror angle adjustability suffer in having mirror tilt adjustment mechanisms that are not easily adjustable by people in wheelchairs. In one prior art angular adjustable mirror design, the mirror pivots about its vertical midpoint to permit improved ease of adjustment. However, this design requires pushing the reflective surface in to achieve a lower reflective angle, which requires more clearance towards the bottom of the mirror to accommodate this travel.
Hence, a need exists for a cabinet with an improved closure panel mounting system that is concealed and fully extends beyond the cavity of the enclosure, and optionally includes an improved system for angular adjustability of the closure panel. Such a cabinet would be particularly beneficial for use by non-ambulatory people.